Turkish Manti Dumplings

What is Manti?

Dumplings in Turkish are called manti and it’s one of the most famous Turkish foods. Just like Turkish kebabs. A dough similar to pasta dough is rolled out, cut in tiny squares and filled with a spicy ground lamb or beef filling. Traditionally, we serve manti with a garlicky yogurt sauce and a spicy butter sauce on it.

Manti is not only known in Turkey. Just like borek, it is famous in Middle East, Central Asia and Balkan cuisines. It has different names in each culture for sure. Manty, mantu and monta are just a few of them.

It’s not an easy dish for many people, so people may not prefer making it at home. If you want to eat Turkish manti, but have no time to make it, you can find it packaged at markets. We find them less tasty though as they have almost no filling inside. In Turkey, there are some small bakery shops which sell handmade Turkish dumplings. These are better than market versions. If the owner of these shops is an old lady and if she herself makes the dumplings, this is even better!

Today we will talk about how to make manti at home as homemade food always outweighs.

In Turkish Culture

As making these tiny dumplings is not a very easy job, Turkish women come together at one of their homes and make them in a teamwork.

At least 3 women - sometimes more work together to make dumplings especially for special days like weddings, welcome or farewell parties or family unions. One of them makes the dough and rolls it out, another one cuts it into squares and the other one puts filling on each square. And then they all start to close them up.And they never miss the chance of having some chat; well, maybe a bit gossiping! They can hardly realize how time runs when they finally seal the last dumpling!

Teamwork is definitely a must if you are planning to make manti for a large group of guests, but you can handle it yourself if you make it for two of you.

How To Make

First make the dough by combining flour, eggs, salt and water until everything holds together. Knead it for 5-10 minutes. It won't be a very soft dough. We make the dough with our hands, but you can use a food processor or a stand mixer if you want. Cover the dough ball with a damp kitchen towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling. In a medium bowl, combine ground meat, finely chopped onions, parsley, salt and pepper.

Now roll dough out with a rolling pin. It doesn't have to be very thin. You can use a pasta roller for this step if you have one. Make it about 2mm or 1/16 inches. Using a sharp knife or a pizza cutter, cut it first into strips and then into small squares.

Then shape the dumplings. Put a little filling on each square and close them up one by one to give each a bundle shape. How? As you see in the pictures below, first fold the tiny square into two and seal all the opposite corners of the dough in the center. Then you have this bundle-like shape. It takes us no longer than 20 minutes to finish them all!

Put the dumplings you make on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. You can sprinkle a little flour on them to prevent sticking. Now, either cook or bake and store the manti dumplings.

Next, cook the dumplings in hot water just like you cook pasta. Heat 4 cups of water in a pot and add the dumplings when it boils. Let them cook until softened for about 10 minutes. Transfer them into bowls with a slotted spoon.

Finally prepare the sauces and serve. For the garlic yogurt sauce, mix yogurt, salt and garlic. For the butter sauce; melt butter and add in olive oil. Add in dried mint and red pepper flakes, stir. Remove from heat after about 20 seconds.

When serving, pour some yogurt on the dumplings and drizzle a little butter sauce over it right before serving. We also love to sprinkle a little sumac on it. YUM!

How To Store

If you make more dumplings than needed or if you are making a big batch with a friend, you can store them for later cooking. To do this, bake the dumplings on a baking sheet in a preheated oven at 350F/180C for 15-20 minutes or until slightly golden. Let them cook and keep them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Tips and Tricks

• Let the manti dough sit covered with a damp kitchen towel for about 30 minutes before rolling it out.
• Use 90% lean ground beef or ground lamb for the filling to have a better taste and texture.
• The ground beef filling shouldn’t be juicy. Otherwise the juice will soften the dough squares and distort the shape of dumplings. So don’t puree the onion. It’s better to chop the onion finely with a knife. 
• Close up the tiny manti dough squares as fast as you can. Otherwise, they might dry out as they sit and it gets harder to seal them.
• Just like you do when cooking pasta, add a pinch of salt and a drop of oil into the simmering water when cooking manti. They won’t stick to one another this way.
• To have an even richer flavor, you can add chicken stock or beef stock in the simmering water and then cook the fresh dumplings in it.
• Cook the dumplings for about 10-15 minutes, not longer than this. Check them after 10 minutes and remove if they are tender enough.
• The best part of making dumplings with some friends is that you have lots of it in the end and you can freeze some for a future cooking! It becomes an easy dish then!

Armenian Style vs Turkish Style

Manti or mantu is a very famous dish in Armenian cuisine too. So how is it different from the Turkish version?

• First, their shapes are different. The Armenian recipe uses open-faced dumplings also known as sini manti. They are stuffed with a savory beef filling (or lamb) and look like canoes.
• The second difference is about the cooking method. Turkish dumplings are cooked in simmering water just like pasta whereas Armenian dumplings are baked until golden. The Turkish version is only lightly baked if it is to be stored in the fridge or freezer.
• Finally the serving is a bit different too. Baked Armenian dumplings are served in some broth which is made with a combination of tomato paste and chicken broth (or beef/lamb broth). It is then topped with garlicky yogurt. On the other hand, boiled Turkish dumplings are served with garlicky yogurt sauce and a spiced butter sauce on the very top.
• In both cuisines, it is optional to sprinkle extra spices like sumac, red pepper flakes and dried mint on dumplings right before eating.

Variations

Although the traditional recipe calls for a meaty filling, vegetarian versions are becoming popular too. You can stuff the dumplings with cooked green lentils, potatoes or even pumpkin puree. What else to add totally depends on your taste. Also, you can prepare different sauces too. Traditionally, it is topped with yogurt sauce, but you can use sour cream too.

If you want to make it vegan, you have to leave the egg in the dough out and use a plant based yogurt for topping. Another creation could be making a sauce with tomato puree and basil.

More Turkish Recipes

• Homemade Lahmacun
• Doner Kebab
• Lavash Bread
• Adana Kebab
• Gozleme
• Piyaz

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